After the no water situation which lasted 3 days shy of a month, I lost all steam. All I did in the garden was pick tomatoes and stew them up to put sauce in the freezer. I did not make my cold frames, nor did I sow any fall lettuces or anything for that matter. I didn't plant garlic, which I will regret when I have none next summer to pick. But i'm not going to dwell on it. I have already started planning for next year.
The main emphasis for me is to keep it simple and easy. I don't need the extra stress that I seem to cause myself, so everything i'm doing from here on out is going to be questioned first with "Is this the simplest way I could do this?". First off, I have eliminated mulch from my life. Not that I don't think it doesn't look good, its just that free ranging chickens like to distribute it all over where you don't want it. So I scooped it all up from the beds around the house and from around the ponds. I will be replacing it with rocks around the ponds, which goes well with the hens and chicks plants that I am trying to get going there. We shall see what happens with the beds around the house, hopefully I can get them going nice and full with perennials so you wont see the ground anyways.
Second on my simplifying plans I have started my list of vegetables to start for selling. Last year was a seat-of-the-pants type selling situation. I planted left over seeds that I had on hand. Now I have a pretty good feel for what people want, which for one thing is peppers. I have chosen a good variety, I will have some hot, some sweet bells in a few colors and some for drying.
My list for things to grow for home is going to be less adventurous. I am slowly starting to go against the inside crazy person who feels that at the beginning of spring I will want to do all that is necessary to produce the fickle things that I wont eat five bushels of. Another thing I did learn is that I will be using row covers to keep out the damn cabbage worms that ruined my life this year. They ate the cabbage and the cauliflower and the broccoli. And in return I ate a couple of them, which I will consider the first and last time that will happen. The covers are pretty cheap, at 15 bucks for a 6' x 50' roll.
Third, the garden has been put to bed for the winter, I covered all the beds with shredded up leaves. Next year I am going to try not even using the broad fork to turn the soil. I keep reading how you shouldn't upset the balance going on in the layers of dirt so I will just dig holes to put the seedlings in and let it go. Less digging, easier for me.
Buckeye Rooster and Hen
Forth on list are the chickens. I want to be able to raise babies so there doesn't need to be constant purchasing. We will be getting a new flock of Buckeye chickens, which is a heritage breed that started in Warren, Ohio in 1896 by a woman named Nettie Metcalf. They are very rare and critically endangered. The reason I have chosen them is because they were bred for our weather, they have a very small pea comb so you dont have to worry about frostbite during the winter and they are a good weight for a dual purpose bird. I plan to get a rooster and hope that I get at least one broody hen so we can have our own chicks. I look forward to hatching out some babies and watching them be taken care of by their mother. Then we wont have to buy them to keep a flock going. It will also be easier when they all look the same, then theres less of a tendency to get attached to a certain bird.
The hard part of the new flock is the old flock. These freezer bound birds have been giving me about 1 egg in the last week and maybe one more before that. Im not sure if they have went through a full molt or not, they sure haven't looked like any pictures of molting birds I have seen so who knows. They will quit laying when they molt and a bit after. But the light has also grown so short that that could be a reason also. The easter eggers haven't given me an egg in so long I cant remember when it was. It was before the other girls quit giving up the eggs though, I do know that. Im trying to get in the habit of thinking about chicken soup when I look at them.
Last on my easy list, I am going to try my hand at some winter sowing this year. Its a system this lady made where you put containers out in the winter with seeds and soil and the seeds start when they know its ready. Then you have also taken care of hardening them off at the same time. I am going to try this with the veggies and perennials that can be done this way and see how it works out. There are lots of people who have succeeded with this method at the garden web site, check it out.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/wtrsow/ and http://www.wintersown.org/
I will add some pics in the next post, Im trying to figure out my blue tooth on my phone!
